Helle Thorning-Schmidt*(Danish pronunciation:*[ˈhɛlə ˈtoɐ̯neŋ ˈsmed]; born 14 December 1966)[1]*is a*Danish*politician*who has been the*Prime Minister of Denmark*since 3 October 2011, and the*Leader of the Social Democrats*since 12 April 2005. She is the first woman to hold either post.Thorning-Schmidt served as a*Member of the European Parliament*for*Denmark*from 1999 to 2004 before being elected to the*Danish Parliament*in 2005. She was elected to replace*Mogens Lykketoftas*Leader of the Social Democrats*after the*2005 parliamentary election, leading her party through the2007 parliamentary election, which was won by the centre-right alliance, and the*2011 parliamentary election, after which she was appointed*Prime Minister*by*Queen Margrethe II. Thorning-Schmidt holds degrees in political science from the*University of Copenhagen*and the*College of Europe.[1]

Even the scoreboards in high school gyms will have to advertise only healthy foods under new rules announced Tuesday by the Obama administration.Promotion of sugary drinks and junk foods around campuses during the school day will be phased out under the rules, intended to ensure that such marketing is brought in line with health standards that already apply to school foods.That means a scoreboard at a high school football or basketball game eventually wouldn’t be allowed to advertise Coca-Cola, for example, but it could advertise Diet Coke or Dasani water, which is also owned by Coca-Cola Co. Same with the front of a vending machine. Cups, posters and menu boards which promote foods that don’t meet the standards would also be phased out.Ninety-three percent of such marketing in schools is related to beverages, and many soda companies already have started to transition their sales and advertising in schools from sugary sodas and sports drinks to their own healthier products. Still, companies are spending $149 million a year on marketing to kids in schools, according to USDA.The proposed rules are part of first lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative to combat child obesity, which is celebrating its fourth anniversary this week. Mrs. Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the new rules at a White House event.

The Obamas are making history, not just as the first African-American president and first lady, but perhaps also as the fittest first couple ever.That role model, in turn, may inspire millions of sedentary Americans to get moving, exercise and preventive health experts hope.Both the new president and first lady are regular exercisers, managing to squeeze in workouts despite their hectic schedules. It's difficult not to admire their dedication. When in Chicago, the new first lady was said to begin her day with a 4:30 a.m. gym workout.

Instead of kicking back and getting some extra sleep the day after he won the election, Obama showed up at his gym at 7 a.m. for a workout. The new president's washboard abs -- snapped by photographers during his Hawaii vacation -- rival that of a 30-something leading man in Hollywood.Comparisons aside,*it's clear that exercise is serious business for the Obamas -- and more about maintaining health and mental acuity than looking good."Barack is almost religious about getting in his workouts," says Alan S. King, a close friend of Obama's and an attorney at Drinker Biddle & Reath in Chicago. "He values his workout time as time to think and relieve stress. I'd say he's also driven by the fact that he wants to be fit and healthy to be around for Michelle and the girls [daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7]."

Obama Exercise Program: The Routine

The new president's workout program would put many men half his age to shame. Obama, 47, combines his love of basketball with treadmill workouts and weight training, say those who have observed his workouts or played hoops with him.

Obama told*Men's Health*magazine in its November issue that his typical routine includes working out for 45 minutes, six days a week, including cardiac-strengthening routines and weight lifting. That's in addition to his famous basketball games -- played whenever possible and always on election days."He alternates days between strength and cardio training and gets in as much basketball as his schedule permits,'' King tells WebMD.*Irene Trantas, a master trainer at the Philadelphia Sports Club at Rodin, observed Obama work out on three different occasions when he stopped in while on the road. "You could definitely tell he has a routine, he works out, and he is familiar with the routine," she tells WebMD. During his stops there, he combined a treadmill run and elliptical trainer with weight training, including the chest press, overhead press, leg press and other conditioning exercises, she says. "He is strong."*

First Lady Michelle Obama is fit and fab at 48, thanks to a healthy diet and daily pre-dawn workouts.The athletic 5-foot-11 Obama hits the White House gym between 4:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. every morning before her daughters wake up, doing a combination of cardio exercise, strength-training and plyometric moves."Barack and I*work out every day," Michelle told*iVillage*Aug. 21, 2012 in her first feature as guest editor. "When he isn’t traveling, that's the first thing we do. So we spend time together in the morning. I usually get to the gym before he does, but he is usually there either in the middle of my workout or right at the end."The First Lady says lifting weights is an integral part of her training. “You don't have to be a weightlifter," she says. "I know a lot of women get worried about muscle definition. But actually, I’ve been told by fitness experts that the average person will not bulk up on the weights that we can lift. That's not why people bulk up."You want to have some weight training in your routine, especially as women, to make sure we've got strong bone density. And it helps with that toning, those little areas that we don't like that flap a little bit, that aren't as tight. That's where lifting comes in, once you've gotten your cardio in there.”Obama also tries to do yoga and Pilates regularly and maintain a steady weight. "I try to keep my weight at a certain level," she says. "And I've found that as I get older I don't like to diet. I like food. I don't like to have to worry and count every calorie."Obama doesn't let anything keep her from her daily workouts--not even a hectic travel schedule. “I bring a jump rope and some of those rubber [exercise] bands," she says. "They're really inexpensive. And I can usually do some rope-jumping in the hotel room."The First Lady, who launched the "Let's Move"*anti-obesity campaign*in 2010, underscores that being active on a daily basis is doable, no matter how busy you are."What people should know is that it just doesn't take much," she says. "It doesn't have to be that complicated. If I don't have a rope or if I don't have space, I might do a 30-minute routine that includes a minute of jumping jacks alternating with a minute of pushups, or however many you can do, and then some sit-ups. And you keep doing that circuit again and again, and you'll find that you're going to build up a lot of sweat. You're going to be burning calories."While she tries to eat healthy most of the time, Obama admits she has a weakness for french fries. "If there are french fries in the vicinity, I'm done. It's over," she says."Barack, his [vice] is chips and salsa and guacamole. And peanuts, almonds, pecans. And there's a way that he eats that we tease him about: He kind of shakes them in one hand and creates, like, a little dispenser with his index finger where he can just pop them in his mouth. He's a nut guy. That's what he's munching on all the time."

Rumors of a divorce betweenBarack and Michelle Obamahave set the Internet abuzz. Here’s everything you want to know about the new*Obama divorce*rumors which have suddenly become the hottest news on the Net. The information below is based on Jan. 19 news reports fromInquisitr.com,*The Nation,*The Daily Star*and other media outlets reporting on the alleged Obama marital strife.Here are the key points associated with the latest Obama divorce rumors, including two alleged cheating episodes by*Barack Obamaand the brazen flirting which angered*Michelle Obama*to the point that she reportedly wants a divorce.

Divorce Already in the Works

Michelle Obama has already secretly with met with an attorney to work out the logistics of filing for a divorce in which she will pursue a divorce settlement in which will include half of Barack Obama’s assets.When Barack Obama’s presidency is over, he will reportedly move back to Hawaii where he grew up. Michelle Obama and the couple’s two teenage daughters, Sasha and Malia, will remain in Washington D.C. This is not the first time the Obama’s have been the subject of divorce rumors. SeeNew Divorce Rumors Spoil Barack Obama’s Re-election Victory*and*Obama Divorce rumors like Obama –Vera Baker Affair Rumors are Without Merit*However, this time the divorce rumors have a slightly different twist.

During the Obama’s Christmas break in Hawaii, someone is said to have leaked information to Michelle Obama about the Secret Service covering up Barack Obama’s alleged extramarital affairs.In one incident, Barack was reportedly caught with a woman in an incident that was quickly hushed up by the Secret Service.In a separate incident, a Secret Service agent was said to have seen Barack Obama in a compromising position with another woman while Michelle Obama was out of town.These new allegations of infidelity have revived interest in previous reports of Michelle Obama’s jealousy and the infamous rumor of the Barack Obama-Vera Baker affair. SeeThe Barack Obama - Vera Baker Affair - Truth or Rumor? – Setting The Record Straightand*The Barack Obama – Vera Baker Affair Revisited – Truth or Rumor + picturesBarack Obama Selfies Embarrass Michelle ObamaPrior to finding out about Barack Obama’s alleged infidelities, Michelle Obama was allegedly already angry that Barack Obama embarrassed her by taking selfies at Nelson Mandela’s funeral with the beautiful blonde the prime minister of Denmark, Helle Thorning-Schmidt while Michelle gave them an icy stare. The first lady later changed seats, putting herself between Barack Obama and the attractive blonde. The whole incident was caught by photographers and pictured of the incident went viral on the Net.

According to the rumors, the Obamas fought about the incident during their Christmas break in Hawaii and things came to a head when she found out about the Secret Service covering up Barack’s extramarital affairs.This was reportedly the real reason Michelle Obama refused to return to Washington with Barack and the couple’s daughters. They flew back without Michelle, who remained behind and spent more than a week at Oprah Winfrey’s Hawaiian estate with friends.The official story that Michelle’s extended stay in Hawaii was a birthday present from Barack Obama. The White House press secretary commented"If you have kids, you know that telling your spouse that they can go spend a week away from home is actually a big presentSeparate Bedrooms, Separate LivesAnonymous White House sources claim that the first couple have already separated. For the sake of outward appearances, Michelle Obama will reportedly continue living at the White House until Barack Obama’s current term of office ends, but she will lead a separate life. The first lady has reportedly already moved out of the presidential bedroom and into another bedroom in the family’s private living quarters. Other sources report that Michelle Obama has already made arrangements to remove Barack Obama’s belongings from of their Chicago home.Check back for regular for updates on the Obama divorce rumors as new details emerge.

Kamala Devi Harris*(/ˈkɑːmələ/;[1]*born October 20, 1964) is an*American*attorney. She is the*32nd*and current*Attorney General*of*California*following the2010 California state elections.[2][3]*Harris has worked as an author and a politician and served asDistrict Attorney*of*San Francisco*from 2004 to 2011. First elected in 2003, defeating incumbent district attorney*Terence Hallinan, she was re-elected in 2007. Harris is the first female[4]*African-American[5][6][7][8][9]*and*Asian American*attorney general in California.[10][11]

Early life and education

Harris was born in*Oakland,*California. She is the daughter of an*Indian*mother, Dr. Shyamala Gopalan—a breast cancer specialist who emigrated fromChennai,*India, to the United States in 1960[12]—and a*Jamaican American*father,*Stanford Universityeconomics professor Donald Harris.[13]*She has one younger sister,*Maya, who is now married to*Tony West, the Acting*Associate Attorney General of the United States.[14]*The Harris sisters grew up in a household that combined*Hindu*and*Baptistteachings.[15]*They were raised in*Berkeley,*Oakland, and*Montreal, where their mother took a position doing research at the Jewish General Hospital and teaching at*McGill University.[16]Harris attended*Howard University*in*Washington, D.C.,[17]*where she was initiated into*Alpha Kappa Alpha*sorority, and received her*Juris Doctor*(J.D.) from*University of California, Hastings College of the Law*in 1989.[18]*She was admitted to the California bar in 1990.
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President Obama assessed the beauty of California's attorney general Kamala Harris, calling her "the best looking attorney general," during remarks at a fundraiser in Atherton, California."You have to be careful to, first of all, say she is brilliant and she is dedicated and she is tough, and she is exactly what you'd want in anybody who is administering the law, and making sure that everybody is getting a fair shake. She also happens to be by far the best-looking attorney general in the country - Kamala Harris is here.""It's true! C'mon," he said as the crowd laughed, according to a report provided by a print reporter at the home of John Goldman, an heir to the Levi-Strauss fortune."And she is a great friend and has just been a great supporter for many, many years. She's brilliant and she's dedicated," Obama said at a luncheon fundraiser benefiting the DNC.Harris has served as California's attorney general since 2011 and is a rising star for Democrats. She is often mentioned as a potential candidate for governor.The president came under some fire back in 2008 when he referred to a female reporter as "*sweetie" and told her to hold a question for a press availability.Here is an interview Harris did with ABC News and Yahoo! during last summer's Democratic National Convention:

Obama's event in California wrapped a two day, four fundraiser sweep through the Bay Area. Earlier Thursday he talked about the need for new gun control at the home of Liz Simons and Mark Heising, director of a San Francisco investment firm and a board member at the Environmental Defense FundRead about his comments on gun control and immigration by clicking*HERE*.

Fresh off the first family’s sixth annual winter vacation to the Hawaiian island of Oahu – billed to American taxpayers at a cost of $4 million – Michelle Obama and the first daughters Malia and Sasha will now jet off to China for over a week of much-needed sightseeing.President Barack Obama won’t be making the trip.But don’t worry, America: The first lady’s mother, Marian Robinson, will be tagging along on the federal dime.The theme of the March 19-26 trip will be education, reports the Chicago Tribune. The first lady and her entourage will spend several days in Beijing before venturing to the cities of Xian and Chengdu.Naturally, the Obama family and its accompanying retinue will take in several cultural and historical sites. They will also stop by high schools in both Beijing and Chengdu.The first lady will meet with Peng Liyuan, the second and current wife of Xi Jinping, the president of China and the general secretary of the country’s Communist Party.Liyuan is also an allegedly popular folk singer in China. Here she is, according to YouTube, singing “To See Liberation for All Oppressed People.”As the Daily Mail observes, the Obamas have spent a tremendous amount of taxpayer money globetrotting in luxury all over the world.(Excerpt) Read more at*dailycaller.com*...

Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community by Michelle LaVaughn Robinson

A thesis presented to Princeton Universityin partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Department of Sociology. Princeton, New Jersey, 1985(c)

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson, 1985

I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis.I authorize Princeton University to lend this thesis to oth-er institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research.

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson
I further authorize Princeton University to reproduce thisthesis by photocopying or by other means, in total or inpart, at the request of other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research.

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson
Princeton University requires the signatures of all persons using or photocopying this thesis. Please sign below, and give address and date.

As a future Black alumnus, this study is particularly in-teresting because often times I take my own attitudes about such issues for granted;. never pausing to reflect upon howmy experiences at Princeton may somehow have caused my atti-tudes to change. This is important for Blacks in contempo-rary society because as more Blacks begin attending predomi-nately White universities it will be helpful to know howtheir experiences in these universities affect their future attitudes. In years to come if their attitudes do change,is it possible, for example, that they will become more comfortable interacting with Blacks or with Whites in vari-ous activities? Will they become more or less motivated tobenefit the Black community? If there is a change in theirattitudes to what might it be attributed? Will they feelany obligation as a member of the Black community to helpother Blacks in particular who are less fortunate than them-selves?Earlier in my college career, there was no doubt in mymind that as a member of the Black community I was somehowobligated to this community and would utilize all of mypresent and future resources to benefit this community firstand foremost. My experiences at Princeton have made me farmore aware of my “Blackness” than ever before. I have foundthat at Princeton no matter how liberal and open-minded someof my White professors and classmates try to be toward me, Isometimes feel like a visitor on campus; as if I reallydon’t belong. Regardless of the circumstances underwhich Iinteract with Whites at Princeton, it often seems as if, to them, I will always be Black first and a student second.
These experiences have made it apparent to me that thepath I have chosen to follow by attending Princeton willlikely lead to my further integration and/or assimilationinto a White cultural and social structure that will onlyallow me to remain on the periphery of society; never becom-3ing a full participant. This realization has presently,made my goals to actively utilize my resources to benefitthe Black community more desirable.At the same time , however, it is conceivable that myfour years of exposure to a predominately White, Ivy LeagueUniversity has instilled within me certain conservative val-ues. For example, as I enter my final year at Princeton, Ifind myself striving for many of the same goals as my Whiteclassmates–acceptance to a prestigious graduate or profes-sional school or a high paying position in a successful cor-poration. Thus, my goals after Princeton are not as clearas before.

It is my belief, as seen by the above causal model, that the independent variable which measures the actual time the respondents have spent throughout the three periods of their lifetime with Blacks and with Whites will have a strong ef-fect on the dependent variables of the study because the more the individual spends time with a group of people, the more the individual will be familiar with that particulargroup of people. For example, if the study shows that morerespondents spend time with Blacks than with Whites duringeach period of his/her lifetime, the study is likely to showmore respondents tend to be comfortable with Blacks than with Whites when interacting in various activities.19I also further hypothesize that this sense of comfortwith Blacks will be greatest in all the activities measuredby this dependent variable except intellectual activites.Intellectually, Blacks may be more comfortable with Whitesas a result of a greater amount of exposure to Whites in anacademic setting while at Princeton. Attending Princetonhas probably forced the respondents to compete intellectual-ly with Whites more than with Blacks and, thus, they have probably become more familiar with Whites intellectually,but in other activities they are not likely to have gainedfamiliarity with Whites if they did not spend time with Whites in other activities besides intellectual ones.As a result of this greater sense of comfort felt by re-spondents with groups with whom they have spent more time,more respondents will be interested in benefiting these par-ticular groups in comparison to others. Thus, the variablemeasuring time spent with Blacks or Whites will also influ-ence the dependent variable measured by the respondents’ mo-tivation to benefit various social groups. For example, re-spondents who. have spent time with Blacks are likely to bemore comfortable with Blacks and will, therefore, take agreat interest in benefiting this group in comparison toother social groups. Consequently, it is also likely thatthese respondents are motivated to benefit self, their lovedones (who are also likely to be Black) and the Black commu-nity in comparison to other social groups indicated by this20variable. While Blacks who are more comfortable with Whitesthan with Blacks will probably be less interested in ben-efiting the Black community.The more respondents spend time with Blacks, the more po-sitive and compassionate they will be in their attitudes to-wards lower class Black Americans, expressing strong feel-ings of obligation to take part in improving their lives.Feelings of obligation will also tend to be strong forBlacks who have spent more time with Whites because of ageneral sense of compassion towards all underprivileged peo-ple. However, the feelings of pride in remaining apart fromtheir lives will be much stronger than their feelings ofpride in not remaining apart from their lives because theserespondents will show tendencies of downplaying the rela-tionship between themselves and other Blacks.The socio-economic status of the respondents’ parents inaddition to the individual’s career mobility are likely toplace these individual’s in social and economic arenas morecompatible with Whites, who make up a large segment of mid-dle class Americans, because they will be able to afford allof the luxuries typical of the White middle class. Thus,the higher the class and the more upward the career mobili-ty, the more comfortable these Blacks will be with Whitesthan with lower class Blacks. Class and upward mobilitywill probably influence the dependent variables in the sameway that time spent influenced the independent variables.

Wife of Barack Hussein ObamaAttorneyViews America as a racist, sexist, homophobic nationDeclared in 2008, “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country...”Born in Chicago on January 17, 1964, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is an attorney who has been married toBarack Hussein Obama*since 1992.In 1985 Miss Robinson received her B.A. in Sociology from Princeton University, where she minored in African American Studies.*According toFrontPageMagazine*reporter Jacob Laksin, “In a [February 2008] interview with*Newsweek, [Michelle] Obama reveals that she got into Princeton … not on the strength of her grades, which she admits were unexceptional, but thanks to her brother Craig, a star athlete and gifted student who preceded her to the school. As a ‘legacy’ candidate and a beneficiary of affirmative action, Michelle Obama was granted an opportunity that others more accomplished were denied.”During her years at Princeton, Miss Robinson was a*board member*with a radical campus group known as theThird World Center*(TWC), which was established in 1971*to provide*"a social, cultural and political environment that reflects the needs and concerns of students of color at the University”; toremedy*the fact that “the University’s cultural and social organizations have largely been shaped by students from families nurtured in the Anglo-American and European traditions”; to acknowledge that “it has not always been easy for students from different backgrounds to enter the mainstream of campus life”; and to teach minority students to “become more sensitive to the consequences of a*long history*of prejudice and discrimination.”TWC's constitution and founding documents were steeped in anti-American and anti-white rhetoric. TWC's constitution*stated:

Quote:

"The term ‘Third World’ implies[,] for us, those nations who have fallen victim to the oppression and exploitation of the world economic order. This includes the peoples of color of the United States, as they too have been victims of a brutal and racist economic structure which exploited and still exploits the labor of such groups as Asians, Blacks, and Chicanos, and invaded and still occupies the homelands of such groups as the Puerto Ricans, American Indians, and native Hawaiian people. We therefore find it necessary to reeducate ourselves to the various forms of exploitation and oppression. We must strive to understand more than just the basics of human rights. We must seek to understand the historical roots and contemporary ramifications of racism if Third World people are to liberate themselves from the economic and social chains they find themselves in."

A 1976 TWC*document*titled “Oppression breeds resistance,” stated: “The history of the peoples of the Third World, who have suffered from U.S. Imperialism, and of the oppressed nationalities within the United States—Afro-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Chicanos, Asians, and Native Americans, has been a history of oppression and resistance.” On one occasion in 1973, TWC brought the Puerto Rican Nationalist and Socialist, Manuel Maldonado-Denis to campus as a*guest speaker. “I have come from a colonized country, submitted to cultural assimilation and cultural aggression,” he*told*the students at TWC. He accused the United States of “dominating,” “fleecing” and “exploiting” Puerto Rico, and said “the only solution” to the problem was “the establishment of national liberation and the establishment of socialism.”*In*November 1984, during Michelle Robinson's tenure as a TWC board member, that board maintained that nonwhite students should have the right to bar whites from its meetings on campus and from its meetings with school administrators. Of the 19 elected positions on the organization's board, two were reserved exclusively for each of the five ethnic groups TWC claimed to represent: Asian, Black, Chicano, Puerto Rican, and Native American.TWC played a key*role*in bringing to Princeton's campus a host of radical speakers, including such notables as Hassan Rahman, the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s deputy observer to the United Nations; David Johnson, affiliated with the terrorist group FMLN; former Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley, a committed socialist;*William Bowen, the architect of Princeton’s racial preference programs; Roberto Vargas, a pro-Sandinista, pro-Che Guevara*poet; Miguel Barnet, a pro-Castro*writer and ethnographer;*Manning Marable, a renowned black Marxist; and a number of*ACORN*representatives.*At Princeton, Miss Robinson wrote a senior thesis entitled “Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community,” (see complete thesis under the Resources column on the left-hand side of this page). Some excerpts from the thesis include the following:

Quote:

Predominately white universities like Princeton are socially and academically designed to cater to the needs of the white students comprising the bulk of their enrollments.”“[My Princeton experiences] “will likely lead to my further integration and/or assimilation into a White cultural and social structure that will only allow me to remain on the periphery of society; never becoming a full participant.”“I have found that at Princeton, no matter how liberal and open-minded some of my white professors and classmates try to be toward me, I sometimes feel like a visitor on campus; as if I really don't belong. Regardless of the circumstances under which I interact with whites at Princeton, it often seems as if, to them, I will always be black first and a student second.”“Earlier in my college career, there was no doubt in my mind that as a member of the Black community I was somehow obligated to this community and would utilize all of my present and future resources to benefit this community first and foremost.”“In defining the concept of identification or the ability to identify with the black community … I based my definition on the premise that there is a distinctive black culture very different from white culture.”

After graduating from Princeton, Miss Robinson went on to attend*HarvardLaw School, where she was accepted under the aegis of a minority outreach program. As one of her friends*would later reflect, Robinson recognized that she had been privileged by affirmative action and was very comfortable with that.In 1988, during her third and final year at Harvard, Miss Robinson*wrote*anessay*for the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) newsletter, condemning Harvard for its dearth of nonwhite and female law professors, and for not having tried to increase their numbers by hiring new candidates on the basis of skin color and sex rather than their academic credentials:“The faculty’s decision to distrust and ignore non-traditional qualities in choosing and tenuring law professors merely reinforces racist and sexist stereotypes, which, in turn, serve to legitimize students’ tendencies to distrust certain types of teaching that do not resemble the traditional images.”Also in the 1988*essay, Miss Robinson derided such books as*The Paper Chaseand*One-L, for promoting the notion that law professors should be “cold, callous, domineering, old, white men who took pleasure in engaging their students in humiliating and often brutal discourse.” She criticized the “traditional model” of law-school instruction, which relied heavily on the Socratic method. She lauded the work of several professors who did not use that method, including such far-leftists as Martha Minow and Charles Ogletree. And she heaped praise upon the concept of*critical race theory, which holds that because racism is so deeply ingrained in American institutions, classical liberal ideals such as meritocracy, equal opportunity, and colorblind justice are essentially nothing more than empty slogans.On May 10, 1988, just a few weeks before Miss Robinson received her Harvard law degree, she and some 50 other BLSA members, carrying signs demanding an “end to racism,”stormed*the office of Dean James Vorenberg and occupied it for 24 hours. Specifically, the protesters demanded that Harvard Law School hire (and grant tenure to) 20 female or minority professors over the ensuing four years. They demanded, further, that at least seven of those twenty hires be black — and that at least four of those seven be female. Moreover, they demanded that Harvard grant tenure to Professor Ogletree and a deanship to Professor*Derrick Bell, the father of critical race theory.After law school, Miss Robinson returned to Chicago to work for the law firm Sidley Austin. There she*mether future husband, Barack Obama, who was working for the firm as a summer associate. In the summer of 1991 she*joined the staff*of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.In 1992, as noted earlier, Miss Robinson wed Barack Obama. The marriage ceremony was performed by Rev.Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ (TUCC), where the Obamas were members of the congregation. (They would remain members of TUCC until 2008.)In 1993 she became Executive Director for the Chicago office of the organization Public Allies, an entity that*sought*to cultivate future community activist leaders by arranging apprenticeships for young adults with non-profit organizations.In 2002, Mrs. Obama began working for the University of Chicago Hospitals (UCH), first as Executive Director for Community Affairs and later, beginning in May 2005, as Vice President for Community and External Affairs. In these roles, she was heavily involved in managing UCH’s “business diversity program.” In early 2005, shortly after her husband had been sworn in as a*Democratic*U.S. Senator representing Illinois, Mrs. Obama’s annual salary at UCH was suddenlyraised*from $121,910 to*$316,962.Mrs. Obama also served as a salaried board member of TreeHouse Foods, Inc., a major Wal-Mart supplier with whom she cut ties immediately after her husband made comments critical of Wal-Mart at an AFL-CIO forum in Trenton, New Jersey, on May 14, 2007.Mrs. Obama was*honored*by*Essencemagazine in May 2006 as one of the “World's Most Inspiring Women”; byVanity*Fair*in July 2007 as one of the “World's Best-Dressed Women”; and by02138*magazine in September 2007 as #58 in "The Harvard 100" list of that university’s most influential alumni.In a February 2007 appearance with her husband on*60 Minutes, Mrs. Obama implied that America’s allegedly rampant white racism posed a great physical threat to her husband, who had just announced his candidacy for the 2008 presidential race. Said Mrs. Obama: “As a black man, you know, Barack can get shot going to the gas station.” (Mrs. Obama’s implication ignored the fact that the vast majority of violence against black Americans is committed by other blacks.*Accordingto the U.S. Justice Department, for instance, between 1976 and 2005, fully 94 percent of black murder victims were killed by black attackers.)

During her trip to China, First Lady Michelle Obama said an odd thing to the children of that country who the government allowed to visit with her.

During her visit to China, first lady Michelle Obama pointed out that the ability to travel outside of the United States was “rare” but that she chose China for a reason.

“It’s very rare that I have the opportunity to travel outside of the United States, and it’s even more rare to have the opportunity to travel with three generations — with my daughters, and with my mother,” she said. “And it is no accident that one of our first trips as a family is here to China.”

Rare? The facts argue otherwise. CNN has a photo gallery of FLOTUS’ overseas trips. Since becoming First Lady in 2009, Michelle Obama has visited Africa (2013), Northern Ireland and Germany, South Africa (2011), Mexico City, Haiti, India, Copenhagen. Those are official visits, at a rate of more than two overseas trips per year.

Mrs. Obama has also taken a series of overseas vacations that include trips to Spain and France, as well as vacations within the United States in Aspen, Colorado and Hawaii.

Washington (AFP) - Michelle Obama will look to dispel growing mistrust between the United States and China through a weeklong tour of the Asian power focused deliberately on soft issues, officials said Monday.

Accompanied by her two daughters and mother, the US first lady will head Wednesday on a tour to some of China's most celebrated sites including the Great Wall, the ancient terracotta warrior sculptures of Xian and a panda preserve.

White House officials said that Michelle Obama would not take up the myriad disputes between the two nations but would instead speak about educational exchanges and emphasize US goodwill toward the Chinese people.

"I think it is important to break through that mistrust and the first lady's visit is an opportunity to do that," Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, told reporters.

The Chinese public's opinion of the United States has significantly worsened from highs when President Barack Obama took office in 2009. Forty percent of Chinese had a favorable opinion of the United States in last year's Pew Research Center survey -- a figure far below that in Western and African nations but still higher than the rate in most of the Islamic world.

The world's two largest economies have been increasingly at odds over issues that include allegations of mass Chinese cyber-espionage and Beijing's increasing assertiveness in territorial disputes with US allies Japan and the Philippines.

Rhodes hoped that Michelle Obama would indirectly highlight one frequent US concern in China -- human rights -- by her very background. Michelle Obama was raised in humble circumstances in Chicago before becoming a successful lawyer, while her husband is the first president from the historically persecuted African American minority.

"I think the first lady's story itself sends a powerful message about the ability of someone from a disadvantaged economic background, from a minority group, to ascend to the positions that she did in private life and now as first lady," Rhodes said.

- Shifting the US-China focus -

While his wife is visiting China, President Obama will take up the gamut of US-China relations in a meeting with counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of next week's nuclear security summit in The Netherlands.

Michelle Obama will meet in Beijing with Xi's wife, the singer Peng Liyuan. The US first lady caused a minor stir in June when she did not go to a California desert resort to mingle with Peng over a weekend intended to build a relationship between the two presidents.

In Beijing, Peng will guide Michelle Obama through Beijing's Forbidden City and welcome her with a dinner and performance, the White House said. The Obamas will also tour the Great Wall, the ancient city of Xian and the southwestern city of Chengdu, near the habitat of pandas, China's emblematic animal.

Michelle Obama will deliver speeches on educational cooperation. China is the largest source of foreign students to US universities and a growing number of US students have studied Mandarin -- including the Obamas' eldest daughter, 15-year-old Malia.

Philip J. Crowley, a former State Department spokesman, said that Michelle Obama's trip can help reframe the US-China relationship away from just the countries' disagreements.

"These differences are real and important. But there are also many areas where the countries' interests overlap and they deserve attention as well," said Crowley, now a professor at George Washington University.

Michelle Obama has enjoyed consistently higher popularity ratings than her husband and has mostly stayed away from controversial topics, instead leading a campaign to encourage Americans to eat better and exercise.

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Embarrassing: Michelle’s China stay in $8,000 a night hotel has workers ‘fed-up’ with ‘barking at staff’

The first lady’s third trip abroad without her husband is turning out to be a “real treat” after all — and the family’s apparently treating it with real class.

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The presidential suite at the Westin Beijing Chaoyang where Michelle, her mother and her two daughters are staying costs a whopping $8,350 a night, and taxpayers are picking up the tab for every dime of the “official” trip, according to the White House Dossier.

The tab’s likely to total more than $1 million, the White House Dossier reported.

In addition to getting the privilege of footing the bill for another royal vacation by the first family (without the member of it whose actually on the government payroll), taxpayers are being represented abroad with manners that would make a real royal – or even “The Ugly American” – blush.

The Mail Online reported Friday Michelle Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson, has been “barking at staff” since the family’s arrival Thursday and the hotel workers are “fed up.”

“We can’t wait for this to be over, to tell you the truth,” one staff told the Mail in a phone interview. “We entertain many important people here, but this has been, I think, very different.”

First Lady Michelle Obama over the last year has spent a total of 42 days on vacation, or a little more than one out of every nine days, according to a White House Dossier analysis of her travel.

Her vacations, the cost of which are mostly borne by taxpayers, include trips to Panama City, Fla., Martha’s Vineyard, Hawaii, South Africa, Latin America, Vail, Colo., and her visit this week to her brother in Corvallis, Ore.

The total does not include a nine day sojourn in Martha’s Vineyard that the Obamas will enjoy this month. Nor does it include a trip she made to Ireland and Great Britain in May, which I’m counting as official travel.

The total vacation time would have been slightly higher had the Obamas gone as planned for an April weekend in Williamsburg, Va. The trip was cancelled due to an extended stalemate between President Obama and Congress over the budget.

Mrs. Obama’s extensive vacation travel comes while many America citizens find themselves out of work or having trouble making ends meet as the economic recovery stalls.

Taxpayers pick up most of the cost of transporting the first lady and her extensive entourage – including Secret Service and her staff – to her various destinations. While she may in some cases pay some of the tab for her personal expenses and travel, the amount is dwarfed by the overall cost to the public.

On trips she makes with the president, though, the costs are only somewhat greater that then they would have been had he travelled alone.

Mrs. Obama’s vacations began in August 2010 with a two day weekend trip to Panama City, Fla., where the Obamas stayed overnight at a Gulf of Mexico hotel in a symbolic effort to show that the Gulf area was safe for travel in the wake of the disastrous BP oil spill.

Next up was what has become an annual pilgrimage to ritzy Martha’s Vineyard, where the Obamas stayed 10 days and dined at several exorbitantly priced restaurants.

In December 2010, with President Obama delayed because Congress was still in town, Mrs. Obama decided to leave without him for their annual Hawaiian vacation, racking up at least $63,000 in additional costs because she travelled alone.

Since the president arrived late, he decided to leave Hawaii in January two days later than scheduled – resulting in a 17 day vacation for the first lady.

Mrs. Obama went right back out on vacation the following month, taking a four day skiing trip in February of this year to Vail, Colo.

In March, Mrs. Obama travelled to Latin America for a five day trip. I’m counting two days of this as vacation, though, because she took her children and her mother along, performed some sightseeing, and went to the beach.

The first lady went to southern Africa in June for six days in what was partially an official visit. Since Mrs. Obama took her mother, her children and their cousins along, since the trip was billed in advance as having personal significance for her, and since the travel included several tourist destinations and a safari, I’m counting half of the journey as vacation, or three days.

Finally, Mrs, Obama took her mother and one of her children to visit her brother in Corvallis, Ore. this week. The trip was not announced by the White House and appears to have lasted four days.

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Michelle: 'There Were Actually Laws in America that Allowed Discrimination Against Black People Like Me'

'My husband and I are President and First Lady of the United States. And that is really the story of America...'

First Lady Michelle Obama talked about America as she visited a school today in China. She talked about the American dream:

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And my story isn’t unusual in America. Some of our most famous athletes, like LeBron James, and artists, like the singer Janelle Monae, came from struggling families like mine, as do many business leaders -- like Howard Schultz. He’s the head of a company called Starbucks, which many of you may have heard of. When Mr. Schultz was a boy his father lost his job, leaving their family destitute. But Mr. Schultz worked hard. He got a scholarship to a university, and eventually built the largest coffeehouse company in the world.

And then there’s this other guy I know who was raised by a single mother who sometimes struggled to afford food for their family. But like me, this guy got scholarships and loans to attend universities. He became a lawyer and a professor, and then he was a state senator and then a national senator. And then, he became President of the United States. This guy I’m talking about is my husband, Barack Obama. (Applause.)

These stories are the stories of so many Americans, and of America itself. Because in America, we believe that no matter where you live or how much money your parents have, or what race or religion or ethnicity you are, if you work hard and believe in yourself, then you should have a chance to succeed. We also believe that everyone is equal, and that we all have the right to say what we think and worship as we choose, even when others don’t like what we say or don’t always agree with what we believe.

Before she met Barack Obama, the future first lady had enjoyed a close family life and strong schooling, showing a competitive streak and a summer where she had a cursing problem.*The then-Michelle Robinson also faced brushes with tight budgets*and racial discrimination, according to her biographer, Peter Slevin.*Here are seven*details on her early years from Slevin's just-published*"Michelle Obama: A Life.''

1. Four people, one bathroom

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Her parents, Marian and Fraser, and her brother, Craig, lived in the cramped upstairs of a bungalow shared with relatives. "If I had to describe it to a real estate agent, it would be a 1BR, 1BA,'' Craig said.*They economized, with Sunday drives being a weekly highlight. Friday nights often meant Chinese checkers, Monopoly or Scrabble*and "The Brady Bunch,'' of which the young Michelle had an encyclopedic knowledge.

''Getting a pizza on a Friday was a treat,'' Michelle remembered. That said, the first lady also has said: "Everthing that I think about and do is shaped around the life that I lived in that little apartment in the bungalow my father worked so hard to provide for us.''

2. Her parents were tough

Her parents met as teenagers. Her*mother, the former Marian Shields, was the disciplinarian. Her father, Fraser C. Robinson III, ''was the motivator and philosopher-in-chief,'' writes Slevin. "They saw it as their mission to provide strength, wisdom and a measure of insulation to Michelle and Craig.*Robinson*was an Army vet who passionately loved art and sculpture, but rarely got to practice it. He rarely missed a day at his job at the municipal water company, even as he began to limp and struggle with degenerative*muscular sclerosis.*

Michelle Obama Attacks America’s Museums as Places That are Only for White People

First lady*Michelle Obama*used a speech Monday that was supposed to be celebrating the opening of a new*museum*to instead dig deeper the*racial divide*that’s been growing ever wider during her husband’s presidency.

“Museums and concert halls,” she said, just don’t welcome non-white visitors – especially children – the way they welcome whites.

Speaking at the new Whitney museum in New York City’s meat packing district last week, Obama*said she grew up thinking that museums were not places “for someone who looks like me.”

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You see, there are so many kids in this country who look at places like museums and concert halls and other cultural centers and they think to themselves, well, that’s not a place for me, for someone who looks like me, for someone who comes from my neighborhood. In fact, I guarantee you that right now, there are kids living less than a mile from here who would never in a million years dream that they would be welcome in this museum.

“And growing up on the South Side of Chicago, I was one of those kids myself. So I know that feeling of not belonging in a place like this. And today, as first lady, I know how that feeling limits the horizons of far too many of our young people.

Rumors are heating up that Michelle Obama will edge out Hillary Clinton for the Democrat nomination for president in the upcoming 2016 race for the White House. How’s that for scary, eh?
Rumors have been making the rounds that Barack expects to push his wife into the spotlight in order to finally destroy the Clinton machine and put himself 100% in charge of the American far left and its power base, the Democrat Party.

Right now, Barack is still in competition with Bill and Hillary. The Media still runs to the aging horndog that was once our president for his thoughts on the issues. This is galling to Barack who thinks the sun revolves around him in the political universe.

Note that President Obama has built an entire campaign edifice that*has not turned its resources over to the Democrat Party.

Obama’s Organizing for Action (which used to be Obama for America) is still in full operation and is used solely to raise money for Obama and his personal causes as well as for pushing his own political message. This billion dollar organizing machine has not turned its gigantic email list over to the Democrat Party nor has it lent is vast online capabilities to the Democrat Party.

In fact, currently the Democrat Party is out of money,*nearly brokeas it is reported. But notice also that OFA isnot out of money*and has made no effort to help the DNC recoup its losses.

So, what is Obama to do with this giant campaign machine if he isn’t helping any Democrats with it? Many think he’ll use it to push his wife for 2016.

Then we can have the destruction of America continue along Barack’s ideological basis with eight years of a “historic” first black, female president, Michelle Obama–the way the media will sell it.

We haven’t seen much about Obama look-a-likes in the acting realm outside of the Indonesian photographer*Ilham Anasand professional Obama impersonator*Reggie Brown,*but the time has come to find someone who can portray our current president.*Deadline*reports that there is a film in the works about*President Barack Obama,*which might sound strange since he’s still in office. However, fear not! The film is much more romantic than political.

The film will follow young Barack Obama on his quest to woo*First Lady Michelle ObamaThe film is called*Southside with You,*detailing the President and his future wife’s*impressive first date across the South Side of Chicago 25 years ago in 1989.